


I'm Gonna Make You Fall

by bythelightofthenight



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Homophobia, M/M, Military School, Physical Abuse, Slow Build
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-26
Updated: 2015-05-26
Packaged: 2018-04-01 09:56:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4015390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bythelightofthenight/pseuds/bythelightofthenight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"And this is yours", Bellamy, the boy who had been assigned to show him around, pointed to the top of the bunk bed. "You have two roommates at the moment, but they won't be here for at least 15 minutes. You going to be okay?"<br/>Monty threw his bag on the bed. "Yeah, why wouldn't I?"<br/>"Some people cry", Bellamy shrugged. "Most don't get sent here voluntarily. It's understandable."</p>
            </blockquote>





	I'm Gonna Make You Fall

**Author's Note:**

> MY WORD DOCUMENT SAYS THIS HAS 15 036 WORDS BUT AO3 WHY YOU GOTTA DO THIS
> 
> so I did a little thing after watching some malcolm in the middle lmao no one can convince me francis wasn't into stanley b ye i took the name of the school from there too did you know there's a whole wikipedia page for 'fictional military academies' lmao
> 
> anyway there are some topics that can be heavy in this but as the rating isn't very high, things aren't expressed too explicitly (for example the physical abuse is not described). also the pov isn't one suffering from internalized homophobia and that doesn't change.  
> later in the story (almost end) there is one citation of a transphobic comment (not made by or towards any of the main characters) so just a warning about that. i'll of course answer any further questions if you have them.

“And this is yours”, Bellamy, the boy who had been assigned to show him around, pointed to the top of the bunk bed. “You have two roommates at the moment, but they won’t be here for at least 15 minutes. You going to be okay?”

Monty threw his bag on the bed. “Yeah, why wouldn’t I?”

“Some people cry”, Bellamy shrugged. “Most don’t get sent here voluntarily. It’s understandable.”

Monty watched him for a moment. The boy was like the ultimate “cool guy”, leaning against the doorframe and chewing on the end of his pencil. He had freckles over the bridge of his nose and the tops of his cheeks, his eyes a deep shade of brown. He was even a year older, having been held back once. It was a mystery to Monty how him being gay would get fixed by sending him to a place with only boys there. Bellamy told him the only woman around for miles was the school doctor.

“Well, I’m not that sad to get away from my parents. No crying needed.”

“Ah”, Bellamy nodded thoughtfully, “then you’re lucky. Well… unless you hate marching.”

“A little unlucky then.”

“You’ll be fine, kid”, Bellamy grinned, tapping the wall. “I’ll be back later.”

Monty climbed into his bed and lied down. The academy didn’t seem so bad. The people were a little plain as far as he’d seen - besides Bellamy, but he assumed that’s how it was supposed to be. Everyone wearing the same clothes, having short hair, standing in line. Monty wasn’t sure he was cut out for all that.

“I’m going to shove that kid in a laundry basket soon.”

“You say that every day.”

The voices were approaching, and Monty stayed completely quiet.

“He annoys the shit out of me.”

“It’s Finn. He annoys everyone.”

Two boys walked into the room, falling silent as soon as they noticed him.

“Uh”, Monty said intelligently.

“Who are you?”

“I’m Monty”, he sat up cross-legged, leaning against the wall.

“Ah, the new guy”, the other boy nodded, crossing his arms over his chest. “I’m Wells, and this is Miller.”

“Hi.”

Miller didn’t say anything, just giving him an unimpressed look.

“Did Bellamy give you a tour?” Wells asked.

“Yeah, he seems nice.”

Wells laughed. “He is. Keep him around if you can. He can get you out of the most shit with the least trouble.”

“I’ll remember that”, Monty rubbed the back of his neck. Miller wasn’t looking at him anymore but Wells clearly wasn’t done yet.

“So why did you get sent here?”

“Wells”, Miller grunted warningly.

“No hurt in asking. Right?” he turned to Monty.

“I guess?”

“I mean, no offense, but you don’t look like this place would be your first pick.”

“It’s really not”, Monty huffed. “I have no idea how this’ll work for me.”

Wells offered him a friendly smile. “Don’t worry. It’s not that bad. Just a lot of rules and regulations and shit. You’ll get used to it in no time.”

Monty wasn’t so sure of it. He hadn’t been big on rules before, more than one case of hacking and other similar activities against his old school on his record. “Anything I should know right now?”

“Room inspections are every day during breakfast, so you have to have everything done before that. Or they’ll make you regret existing in front of everyone. But don’t worry; we’ll help you out.”

Miller rolled his eyes but Wells looked completely serious.

“And they’ll probably make you cut your hair. You’ll have to see about that. It’s always about how much they like you rather than how well you do your work.”

Miller snorted. “Like you’d know.”

“Well, I’ve sure seen you fuck up enough times”, Wells kicked his friend in the ankle.

“So what kind of stuff gets you into trouble?”

Wells and Miller glanced at each other.

“More like what doesn’t get you into trouble. That’s certainly a shorter list”, Wells made a face. “There’s the clothing regulations and work hours and homework. Not to mention your behavior around superiors. Miller’s an expert on that one.”

“I’m loved by all”, Miller shrugged.

“Have they given you your uniform yet?”

“No?” Monty frowned, eyeing their matching clothing. He wasn’t sure if he could pull off the outfits like Wells and Miller did. They were both athletic with broad shoulders and muscular arms, and Monty felt he wouldn’t quite look the part in a uniform.

“I think I could get you one. Just in case Bellamy gets caught up with something. You’re going to need it if you want dinner”, Wells was about to push himself up from where he was leaning against the side of the other bed, but Miller beat him to it.

“I’ll go”, he said, not even looking in Monty’s direction as he walked out of the room.

“Don’t mind him. He’s always like that.”

“Can you be honest with me for a second?” Monty bit his lip, looking the boy straight in the eye. “How screwed am I?”

Wells was clearly holding back a smile, but he took his time before answering. “Honestly, you’re going to be fine. It’s your first day. Don’t worry about it. Just stick with us and we’ll help you out.”

“Am I going to have to march?”

“Not until the weekend.”

“Okay, maybe I’ll live.”

 

*

 

His first day wasn’t that bad. He stuck to Wells’ side in his new uniform that hung off his shoulders.

It felt like having immunity. People would look at him, but not really see him because Wells was there to say hi to them or just ignore them so they went their ways. Monty filed all of it into memory, soaking information like a sponge. He’d survived everything coming his way so far, and this wasn’t going to be any different.

There were at least four hundred kids there, varying from ages 12 to 18. The majority were over 15, though. The dorms were on the eastern side of the campus, cafeteria in the main building, classrooms at the other end. Monty wondered if they were far on purpose.

Wells was a good person to be around while mapping. He kept talking even if it seemed like he wasn’t listening and answered all his questions honestly. Monty wanted to know about their chores, homework due dates, visitation days. If he thought about it, he asked.

Miller, on the other hand, was a different story. If they were all five-year-olds, Monty would’ve suspected he was mad at him for stealing his best friend. But because they weren’t, he had no idea why the boy constantly looked mad. He was there just to make snarky comments and roll his eyes at whatever Monty said.

Things got interesting when they met their superiors. They were all lieutenants and officers or something of the sort, and they all required everyone to stand perfectly still, backs straight and faces neutral, when they entered the room. Colonel Jaha was the principal of the academy, and like most good principals, he was barely ever seen. However, Sergeant Kane, Jaha’s right hand, certainly enjoyed visibility. If Wells’ stories were anything to go by, he might as well have horns grow out of his skull.

Bellamy came to visit him at the end of the day with the rest of his stuff.

“Sorry I was a bit MIA today. Some younger kids had a fight at laundry. Not pretty”, he said.

“What happened?” Wells frowned.

“Bit of a mystery for now”, Bellamy shrugged with feigned carelessness. “How was your first day, Monty?”

“Uneventful”, he yawned, settling back into his bunk after dumping his things in a free drawer.

“Good. Keep it up and stay out of trouble. You especially don’t want to start shit with the night guard, Lincoln. He’ll rip you a new one”, Bellamy grinned.

Monty couldn’t help smiling back, the boy’s happy face too infectious to resist.

Maybe life wouldn’t too bad there.

 

*

 

Of course he didn’t knock on wood on it, and the next morning Monty found himself in trouble.

They had an assembly outside each morning. The sun was only rising and Monty was still half asleep as they stood in line in the yard. Praise the lord and so on, they sang, and Monty fought to keep his eyes open. But things didn’t go down until after that.

He was just standing there when sergeant Kane suddenly appeared in front of him. Wells had taught him how to talk to higher ranking people, and Monty did his part of the exchange.

“Cadet, it seems your current haircut does not follow regulations.”

“So I’ve been told, sir.”

“We hold certain standards here at Marlin Academy. One of them is short, masculine, well-kept hair”, Kane said.

Monty made a thoughtful face. “Well, you see, sir, I have a very feminine face. So better keep that under wraps, right?”

From the corner of his eye, he saw Wells pressing his lips together to not laugh. Kane, however, didn’t seem as amused, digging out a notepad.

“Are you talking back, cadet? That’s a shot for you. And get the hair sorted.”

With that he was gone, and they got to stand down. Someone smacked the back of Monty’s head and he turned to see Bellamy shaking his head at him.

“What did I say about getting into trouble?”

“To not, I’m guessing? Hair covers the ears too”, Monty pointed at the side of his head.

Bellamy grinned and reached out to ruffle his hair. “Let’s go fix this mess before breakfast.”

“But the inspection and --”

“I’ll take care of it. Just don’t do anything else stupid”, Wells patted his shoulder before leaving with Miller.

Bellamy led him to one of the smaller buildings near the classes. A woman looked up from her desk as they entered.

“Hey, Abby!”

The woman took one look of Monty before pointing to the back. Without another word they moved to the next room that looked like a tiny waiting room with simple furniture and muted colors. A blonde girl was reading a magazine on the couch, foot popping to a beat in her head.

“Clarke, hey.”

She looked up at them, and Monty was sure she was related to the woman in the previous room. “Hey, Bell. Oh, you’ve got yourself a newbie.”

Monty waved at her shortly.

“A newbie looking for trouble. We need some assistance with the hair”, Bellamy explained.

Clarke pushed herself up and walked around them to eye at Monty’s head. “Please tell me you want a buzz cut.”

“Please no.”

She sighed. “You could’ve been my favorite client…”

“Monty.”

“Monty. I could’ve just handed you an electric razor and sent you off, but no.”

“Don’t listen to her”, Bellamy dodged her elbow that was aimed at his ribs. “She’s just pissed because she’s missing a week of her summer vacation because school starts earlier for us.”

“In a week I’ll be going back to a private school with only girls in it. It can get a bit much so I need my holidays. But before that I’m stuck with a new batch of dudes for a week. And you know what I have and don’t have? I have great boobs and absolutely no patience.”

Bellamy snorted, and finally Clarke got in a hit.

“Have you ever been locked in with three hundred girls, who are all going through different stages of puberty, for six months, Bellamy?”

“No, but now that you mention it, I’d be happy to switch with you”, he grinned.

“Of course you would”, Clarke rolled her eyes at him before winking at Monty. “Let’s get to work then.”

 

*

 

Clarke was no professional, but Monty was incredibly grateful for all the experience she’d gotten throughout her time there. He’d really only let his hair grow as long as it had to make his parents uncomfortable, but it had also started to feel like a helmet, protecting him from the world. Now he’d have to face them eye to eye, and maybe it was time, too.

Bellamy brought him to breakfast afterwards and sat with him for most of it as Wells and Miller had already left. For the last few minutes Monty was alone, though, and he used the time to eavesdrop on the other kids around him.

“He had to have three stitches. Can you believe it?” he heard one boy behind him say.

“I heard they tried to bash his head in. Fourteen stitches”, another one said.

“No, there was a fist fight -–”

Monty turned to look at the boys clearly younger than him just when a louder voice covered up the conversation.

“Have you seen the tits on that one? Unbelievable! Can’t believe what a bitch she is –-”

He picked up his tray and left quickly.

 

*

 

“He lives!” Wells grinned as he walked into their room.

“Wish I could say the same thing about my hair.”

“Could’ve always chosen the buzz cut.”

“Don’t think that would be my best bet. I already have a baby face.”

“I’m sure there’s chicks who like that.”

Monty shrugged. “I wouldn’t know about that.”

“Huh?”

“Oh yeah, I’m gay”, he said, watching Wells’ face carefully. From the corner of his eye he could see Miller turning to look at him, but when he glanced at the boy he’d already turned away.

“Oh”, Wells nodded. “Then I guess I don’t really know about that, either.”

“It happens”, Monty smiled. Wells looked relieved, but not in a bad way. It was more of a “I’m glad no one was offended” kind of a relief. Miller, on the other hand, was still facing away from him, and Monty could see his jaw clenching. He didn’t have such a good feeling about that, but for once he kept his mouth shut.

“We should get to class”, Wells said.

Miller just got up and walked out. Wells’ smile seemed more apologetic than encouraging, then.

 

*

 

Monty never really had trouble with the actual schoolwork, so the classes they had weren’t a problem. Instead of listening to the old teacher’s ramblings about the Cold War, he thought about Miller.

He didn’t know the boy at all, that was a given. But they were roommates now. Monty wasn’t sure if he was comfortable with living with someone who couldn’t even look at him after hearing the truth. He’d already tried that for the past few years of his life.

The most confusing part was Wells. If Miller was a bully, why would Wells be friends with him. It didn’t add up. Monty had heard him threaten to shove a kid into a laundry basket. It wasn’t a stretch.

Maybe he should ask Wells if the administration would let him change rooms. It would suck to not live with Wells anymore, but he wasn’t going to risk it with a kid twice his size in muscle.

Monty stayed quiet for the rest of the day, not getting in trouble, not talking back even when Kane made a comment about his hair as he passed in the hallway. It was all about picking his battles… and apparently getting shots wasn’t a good thing at all.

Miller seemed to have stopped acknowledging his existence. It annoyed Monty to no end. He was forced to think about the boy’s presence all day long, and Miller himself got to just ignore him. They’d never even had a conversation between the two of them, and he got to just choose to look past Monty.

Wells was more or less caught between them, but he hid it well. He was just having two separate conversations at the same time or standing between them while neither said a word. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Finally there was a moment when Miller was still outside while the two of them were in their room before dinner.

“Wells, why is Miller such a dick?” he asked. When there was no answer he kept going. “Is it the gay thing? Is that really his problem? Or does he just like holding grudges like a baby?”

“Monty, there’s some things that -–”

“Just tell me, please. I won’t hate you. I won’t make a scene. I just need to know.”

Wells bit his lip. “He’s not a bad person –-”

“Is he really not?”

“Miller might be an asshole but he won’t do anything. He’s not a problem –-”

“But he’s a homophobe?”

“Well...”

“Okay, I get it. I don’t need to know anything else”, Monty heard his voice shake. “I’m going to go get some air.”

“Monty!” Wells yelled after him but he was already gone.

 

*

 

It was his second day. His second day and already he had a growing list of people disliking him. Kane he could deal with; they weren’t exactly forced to spend time together. But Miller lived in the same small space as him. They had to have the same lessons, chores, sleeping patterns. It wasn’t fair that he had to feel bad about it.

“Hey. Newbie.”

Monty turned to see Clarke walking towards him.

“Why are you sitting here alone?” she sat next to him on the front steps of the school building. “Isn’t dinner soon?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“Tell auntie Clarke what’s wrong.”

Monty raised his brows at her but she just stared back. “I’m stuck in military school.”

“And stating the obvious”, she chuckled.

“I’m gay.”

“Ah, cool. I’m bi.”

Monty looked up at her. “Really?”

“Oh yeah. While I’m not stuck in a cycle of overzealous masculinity, I get to enjoy the perks of being the sluttiest slut to ever walk the earth. Can’t say I disagree with that, and neither does my girlfriend. Still, feeling the reverse the gay -effect everywhere.”

“How do you deal with it? I was fine at home, but here I have to be around these people all the time.”

Clarke bumped their shoulders together. “I don’t have the answers. In my school they lock us up in closets. Probably think it’s hilarious. It sucks and it’s unfair, but I know I’ll get out of there sooner than later. Then off I go. You have to find an out and stick with it. Maybe keep a low profile, go under the radar. I really don’t know how things work here.”

“I’m not very good at shutting up…”

“Then give them a run for their money. Not everyone is awful here. Bellamy will have your back if you need him. There are nice boys at this school too.”

Monty met her eyes and gave her a small smile. “So where’s your girlfriend?”

“Lexa used to go to my school but they caught us fucking in the chapel and transferred her”, Clarke grinned. “Now she’s trying to find us a way to flee to Australia where her sister lives. It’s not working so well yet.”

“And they say I’m causing trouble.”

 

*

 

“Hey, Miller! Wait up!” Monty jogged after the boy, catching him just outside the dorms.

He stopped but didn’t turn around. Monty walked around him to face him, also cutting off his escape route.

“Do you have a sec?”

“What do you want?” Miller sighed, not meeting his eyes.

He had a plan. Sort of. It had been three days since he’d talked to Clarke, and Miller still didn’t look at him, still didn’t acknowledge he was there. On multiple occasions Monty had wanted to start throwing things at him, but Wells’ warning look stopped him. Now he was going to demand answers so he could leave the whole ordeal behind and move on. Whether he would get them was a mystery, and what they would reveal was too, but it was worth a shot.

“I want to know why you can’t look at me. I get that we don’t really know each other, but come on. I’m not that revolting.”

“I don’t know what you mean”, Miller said, sort of looking somewhere near his face.

“I’m just interested. Because you didn’t seem to have a problem when I came here. But suddenly after you hear that I’m gay, I stop existing.”

Miller looked around like he was checking if anyone could hear them. “I don’t get why you need to keep bringing it up.”

“What? That I’m gay?” Monty snorted. “Or that I’m gay? Does it make you uncomfortable? Because I’ve been dealing with dicks like you for years now. I couldn’t care less if you’re uncomfortable. I don’t try to come on to you or bother you in any way. I just want some human decency -–”

Miller grabbed his arm and pulled him to the side of the building. “Nice story, asshole. It’s not me you need to be worried about. It’s that.” He pointed at two boys walking towards the dorms.

“Who?” Monty didn’t recognize them; they were both younger than him. The other one was limping slightly and half of his face was covered in healing cruises, a line of stitches above his brow.

“Not them”, Miller huffed. “It’s the ones that made _that_ happen. People’s faces don’t slice open on their own.”

“So you’re telling me I should worry about getting beaten up? What else is new? This is a military school. I saw a fight just yesterday.”

“Exactly. Getting a beating from your everyday high school jock is not the same thing as getting it from a trained cadet at a military academy. You don’t want to try it.”

Monty narrowed his eyes at him. “So if you know who’s doing this, why don’t you do anything about it? Huh?”

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed yet, but there’s a crucifix in every fucking room of this place. Do you think the administration gives a shit about a few gay kids getting their asses kicked? If they were still allowed corporal punishment, they’d probably do it themselves.”

“Right, but that doesn’t answer my question. Are _you_ so afraid of getting beaten up that you don’t want to associate with me?” Monty raised his brows at him.

“Just staying out of the way.”

“Doesn’t make you any better than the rest of them”, he snarled before turning on his heels and walking away. He walked past the boy with the bruises, feeling his stomach drop at the sight of his eye having swollen completely shut.

 

*

 

In the end, Monty’s first week wasn’t that bad. After the thing with Kane, he only got a talking to from one teacher for “sassing” them.

On Sunday he said goodbye to Clarke who left for school.

“Take care, kid”, she whispered in his ear as they hugged.

“We’re almost the same age”, he muttered back.

They stood behind the fence and watched her go.

“I’ll never let go, Jack!” Bellamy yelled after her, earning a shot in the process. “Worth it”, he shrugged to Monty.

After that the days became all the same. For a month he went to his classes, did his work, did his chores, trained with the others, and was ignored by Miller. It was numbing and after a while it stopped feeling like trouble was waiting behind every corner.

The training was awful. Marching turned out to be the least of his problems. It wasn’t that exercise was horrible, no. Sure, Monty wasn’t the fittest person but he could run short distances fast and do a few push-ups. The flight reaction was usually better than the fight one, anyway. What was awful was the amount they were expected to do and the ridicule they got if they didn’t. It was just like gym class except worse because they had so much other work and he didn’t get to go home after.

Not that Monty missed home. Maybe just his room and his computer and spending time with Harper and Jasper. Otherwise it was all the same where he was.

He still spent most of his time with Wells. Often Bellamy was around too. Mostly there wasn’t that much time to just hang around, anyway. Wells swore it got easier later in the year, but Monty wasn’t sure if he believed it yet.

On one Saturday the upperclassmen were sent on an overnight trip. Monty didn’t qualify for it yet. Apparently there was a pointing system. Either way, he went to do some basic training with the younger kids. He knew his own strengths so he didn’t mind having to be around them. You had to start somewhere.

He was on his way back to the dorms to shower and hopefully enjoy some peace and quiet, when someone stepped in front of him. The boy was tall and blond, and the smile on his face made Monty need that shower even more.

“Hi, you’re Monty, right?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Just asking”, the boy crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m Wick.”

“Great”, Monty glanced around, looking for an out. “Did you need something?”

“Not really… I mean you’re new so I just wanted to see how you were fitting in -–”

“Shouldn’t you be camping with the others?”

Wick’s smile fell just a notch, but he recovered quickly. “I’m at the top of the list so I can miss one. And funnily enough it seems to be incredibly hard to find you alone when Blake and Jaha are here.”

Monty frowned at him. “Are you asking me –- So, uh, what did you need from me exactly?”

“We’re just talking, aren’t we -–”

“Monty, hey!”

He turned around to see Miller walking through the door.

“Hi, what -–”

Miller ignored him, looking at the other boy instead. “This isn’t your dorm, Wick. Get out.”

“I’m not doing anything wrong”, he shrugged.

“You sure?”

They stared at each other for a moment while Monty just watched on, confused. Finally Wick raised his hands in defeat, backing away with the same sleazy grin on his face. Monty stayed still as he walked out before turning to Miller who wasn’t next to him anymore, but instead already walking towards the stairs.

“Hey, wait!” he ran after him. “What was that?”

“What was what?”

“Come on. Please don’t start again”, Monty sighed as they stopped on the stair landing. “What’s your deal?”

“He’s the worst one.”

“Of what?”

Miller wasn’t looking at him again. “Of all of them. He’s the one telling who to go after and the others listen. You don’t want to go near him.”

“But you see, I don’t really have anyone else around right now. He’s the one coming to talk to me. It’s a nice and polite thing to do -–”

“What do you want me to say?” Miller was suddenly a lot closer, crowding his space. “That I’m sorry? Because I’m not. What I’m telling you are facts whether you like it or not. So either you listen to me or you’ll end up doing some really stupid shit.”

It was the first time in forever that he met Monty’s eyes, and it was strange how relieved it made him feel. “He said it’s hard to get me alone. Is that like…”

Miller’s face went from annoyed to disgusted for a short second and his hands clenched into fists by his sides.

“…code for something? Because I doubt he wants to fuck. That’s all I’m saying.”

Miller shook his head, smiling just a little as he took a step back. “Who knows. Just, you know, don’t go with him.”

“And now he shows emotion”, Monty snorted. “I always knew you liked me. You’re a shit actor.”

“Keep telling yourself that”, Miller walked up the rest of the stairs, leaving him to stand alone.

 

*

 

He started noticing Wick around more after that. It was like the boy was lurking everywhere he looked. Turned out that also the one Miller wanted to throw in a laundry basket on his first day was a part of Wick’s group. And he was the loud talker in the cafeteria. Apparently they packed together. As small as the world was, at least Monty no longer disagreed with dumping the boy in the nearest bin.

On the subject of seeing people around, Miller had finally started to act almost casual around him. Wells just rolled his eyes at them now, not even going to ask. But Monty did see a pattern there. Whenever Wick was around, so was Miller. Of course sometimes coincidentally, but it was definitely a thing.

Now that the boy had stopped acting like he didn’t exist, Monty didn’t mind spending time with him there. He was even big enough to admit that Miller wasn’t the worst person to have around. But ever since their talk in the stairwell, being in the same space had become… different. Monty knew it had to do with the dream he’d had right after the whole debacle. He’d woken up sweaty and uncomfortable, tangled in his sheets with images of them doing a lot more than talking now forever stuck in his brain. It must’ve just been the moment, the way it felt like Miller was protective of him. Maybe it was a thing for him.

Of course he’d noticed that Miller was attractive as soon as they met, but he hadn’t stood out like Bellamy or been considerate like Wells. Maybe it was the cold shoulder he got that made him reconsider Miller. What a sad life he led, getting crushes on people who treated him poorly.

It wasn’t really a crush, though. He just… liked the way Miller looked. Like when he walked around without a shirt before going to bed. Or his face in the mornings when he was almost too tired to open his eyes. They still mostly just bickered whenever they were around each other so it wasn’t like it mattered.

 

*

 

It was way too early to even mention again. Monty stood in line with the others in the crisp fall air, wondering how long it would take him to learn how to sleep with his eyes open. Even Wells, who was usually the best morning person out of them, looked done with it all.

Jaha was late for some reason, but they all still stood rigidly in place and waited. After ten more minutes Monty could hear some of the upperclassmen start talking. Unsurprisingly the annoying kid, Finn, even moved out of line to have a chat with his friends.

“If he ever shuts up is truly a mystery”, Monty said to Wells who chuckled quietly.

“Cadet!”

Monty straightened up, expecting to get to witness Finn getting put to his place, but instead he saw Kane staring straight at him.

“Were you given permission to speak?”

He glanced at Wells. Was he allowed to answer?

“Well?”

“No, sir?”

Kane shook his head slowly like he was awfully disappointed. “No indeed. Now that’s a shot -–”

“For talking?” Monty exclaimed. “Like that guy over there? At least I was in line -–”

“And that’s another one. Do you really want to try more?”

Monty stared back at the man, lips pressed tightly together. He knew he shouldn’t but he so wanted to. Screw talking back. He was ready to throw his boot at the man.

“That’s what I thought.”

“My apologies, cadets”, Jaha appeared quite literally out of nowhere. “Let’s begin.”

The assembly went on normally, but Monty was seething with anger. As soon as it was over he was ready to voluntarily go run some laps just to release some of the frustration, but Bellamy caught up to him.

“That… was not good.”

“You’re telling me”, Monty huffed, kicking at pebbles.

“So that was your third shot, right?”

“Yeah, so? The first one was like a month ago.”

Bellamy made a face. “Well… they only expire every two months. You missed it by two days. I’m going to have to sign you up for some extra work.”

Monty ran a hand through his hair. “Are you serious? Kane’s up my ass for no reason! Can’t you cut me some slack?”

“Sorry, I can’t. But I’ll get you the easiest job I can find. I promise. It’s only a week --”

“A week?” he whined. “What did I ever do to the guy?”

“He likes picking favorites… and least favorites”, Bellamy patted his shoulder apologetically. “I’ll bring you the info tomorrow.”

“Okay.”

Bellamy left and Monty dragged himself into the dorm. Wells and Miller were already looking at him expectantly when he walked in.

“What did you get?” Wells asked.

“Don’t know yet. Bellamy said he’d go easy on me but what even is easy in this place.”

“Kane’s clearly singling you out. He has a complex or something.”

“The dude’s a dick”, Miller offered helpfully.

“Monty”, someone said behind him, startling him. “You have a phone call.”

“Fantastic”, Monty sighed, following the boy, maybe called John, into the lounge.

The phones were ancient to say the least and the line made an unpleasant noise when he picked up the receiver.

“Hello?”

“Hi, honey. It’s mom.”

He pressed his forehead against the side of the phone. “Hey.”

“How are you? Are you having fun?”

“As fun as you can have in military school. No, actually, not even that much fun.”

“I know starting at a new school can be tough but it’ll get better.”

“Yeah, sure. Because that’s totally the case here.”

“How have you been… feeling?”

“If you mean have I started feeling any straighter, then no. Sorry.”

His mother sighed. “You know we’re only doing this to help you.”

“Yeah, I can feel it. This is definitely the best place to make me self destructive.”

“A little discipline is good for you –-”

“I’m sure I’ll feel that way too when I’ve gotten my first beating. But hey, thanks mom. I really love it here. Making plenty of new friends. Doing well in school. Need to go to breakfast now, though. Talk to you later. Bye bye!” he set the receiver down carefully before slamming his hand against the side of the phone, hissing at the contact.

Someone cleared their throat, and he looked up quickly. Miller looked almost as uncomfortable as Monty was feeling.

“We’re, um, going to breakfast now.”

“Okay, I’ll be right there.”

Miller just nodded before walking outside. Monty closed his eyes for a moment and breathed deeply. He was doing okay. He had people he could trust. He didn’t have trouble with school. It was all good.

When he joined Wells and Miller for breakfast, neither of them said a thing about the stormy look on his face. Monty was grateful for that, although he knew he’d probably have to answer some questions later.

 

*

 

“Hey! Monty!”

He lifted his eyes from his homework to see Miller standing over him. “What?”

“Come on.”

“Where exactly?”

Miller gave him a look of exasperation. “Just come on.”

“I have homework…”

Miller didn’t say anything, just crossing his arms and tapping his foot.

“Fine”, he dragged himself up and followed the boy. He was a little nervous. It was exactly how his dream had started. And of course it wasn’t an everyday thing for them to spend time alone.

Miller led him to the gym, and for a moment Monty wanted to kill him. “Go get changed. I’ll wait.”

Monty shot him a glare before walking into the locker room and finding his training clothes. Still confused, he returned back to the gym, suddenly feeling very self-conscious about wearing shorts in front of Miller.

The boy didn’t say anything, just signaling him to follow. They made their way to one corner with a punching bag. Monty raised his brows at Miller.

“Seriously?”

“Less whining, more punching”, Miller threw a pair of gloves at him.

“Is that your motto?”

Miller didn’t dignify him with an answer.

“Wait a minute”, Monty pulled on the gloves. “Is this the beginning of my training montage? Are you going to make a man out of me? Should I play Eye of the Tiger?”

“Just shut up and punch the bag”, Miller settled behind it, holding it still for him.

“I can’t believe this.”

Taking a few punches felt surprisingly good. After a while he started imagining Kane’s face on the bag and it helped even more. Miller didn’t say a word as he kept hitting, sometimes stopping to breathe.

He didn’t know how long he kept going, but in the end he was exhausted. Sitting against the wall, he accepted the water bottle Miller offered him.

“Told you it’d help”, Miller sat down as well. Monty couldn’t help noticing the distance he kept, but he was too tired to care.

“You didn’t tell me anything”, he said through sips.

“Well… now I’m telling you. It helps if you’re mad or frustrated or whatever.”

Monty stayed quiet for a while. For a moment he stopped thinking too much about where he was and what was happening, and just watched Miller.

It was almost unfair how nice he looked, sitting cross-legged across from him. He was all long lashes and nice lips and excellent arms, and Monty got distracted as parts of his dream popped back into his mind. There’d been wandering hands and hot breaths, and it was all so awfully untrue. He wished just a little bit that Miller was still rude to him so he wouldn’t have to think about him in that way.

“Why weren’t you at the camp?”

Miller seemed to get shaken out of his thoughts as well. “What?”

“The camp for upperclassmen. I know I wasn’t qualified. Why weren’t you there?”

“You have to have enough points to qualify. I have too many spots on my record.”

“You’ve gotten in trouble too many times?”

“Seems that we have that in common, Rocky.”

“Nice one”, Monty huffed. “What are we friends now?”

Miller shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“Well you’ve stopped pretending you hate me. It’s progress.”

“Guess so.”

“God, you’re so vague.”

“And you’re too blunt.”

Monty smiled a little. He could’ve sworn Miller’s lips twitched just a bit as well.

 

*

 

His new job was at laundry. It was a boring task to say the least, but at least the younger kids let him be. Still, it was all extra to his regular workload, and he didn’t get to bed until late at night.

Miller had laughed at him when he heard of his assignment, and even Wells cracked a smile. Apparently the job was _only_ for the first few grades and therefore Monty was also a child now. He voiced his hurt over their betrayal loudly.

At the end of the week they’d both started to look a little pitying when Monty had to drag himself to work after a full day. But he wasn’t going to give Kane any reason to discredit him. He was going to get the job done no matter what.

And he did. But then Bellamy caught up with him again.

“Hey, so I’ve got some good news and some bad news.”

“I’m done with laundry tomorrow. Nothing can ruin my mood. Lay it on me”, he said.

The look on Bellamy’s face made him regret asking for it.

“You know how the annual training thing is coming up? So I had a chat with Kane and he said you could qualify for it…”

“Wow, really?”

“… If you keep working at laundry.”

Monty blinked at him slowly. “You’re fucking with me.”

“I’m not. He’s really out to get you.”

“So how important is this camp?” he asked but as Bellamy was about to open his mouth he decided against it. “No, don’t tell me. Of course I have no choice. Fuck, how does he keep doing this?”

“I don’t know, man. I’m just the messenger”, Bellamy shrugged.

“I guess the only righteous way to beat him is to do everything without complaining. How great. Love this system.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault”, Monty sighed. “I’ll just… go get ready for work then.”

He left Bellamy without another word, muttering curses under his breath as he walked inside. Wells could obviously tell it wasn’t a good idea to tease him and just offered him an encouraging smile. Miller, on the other hand, wasn’t as attentive. He only got half a line out when Monty threw the shirt he’d just taken off at his face.

“Of course I’m having fun at laundry! Why wouldn’t I like being forced to wash all your filthy-ass sheets and jizz-stained socks! So yeah, it’s funny that I work with the younger kids, but would you cut it out already?”

He didn’t wait for an answer, pulling on a new shirt and stomping out of the room.

He was so done with boys. Living with them, talking to them, _cleaning up_ after them. Did he really need to graduate high school?

Most of the kids were already there when he got to the laundry room. They had three massive, industrial sized washing machines and dryers, and another normal sized pair for regular clothes. Monty couldn’t understand how much laundry the school could create, but only on one day of his week there they didn’t have enough work to do for the whole time. As two groups, they alternated between folding the burning hot sheets and towels, and ironing uniforms.

Now the smell of detergent just made his blood boil.

 

*

 

“Hey.”

Monty glanced away from his book for just a second to see Miller standing next to the bed. He kept a safe distance from him, aware that he was now holding a book and not just a pile of fabric.

“What?”

“I’m, uh, sorry. About earlier. I was just kidding.”

He stayed quiet for a moment, letting the boy stew in his guilt for a second longer. “It’s called picking your moments, asshat.”

Miller cracked a smile, and it made him feel a little better after what he went through earlier that night.

He’d been walking back from laundry, when suddenly someone grabbed his shoulder and shoved him against the wall outside the dorm building. Wick shook his head slowly as he towered over him. Monty could see the other kids walking by, some intentionally not looking their way, others shooting him worried or pitying looks.

“You’ve really not learned your lesson yet, have you?” Wick’s fingers pressed into his shoulder bruisingly.

“What?”

“You know you can’t hide behind them forever.”

“What the fuck are you going on about –-”

He was pulled away from the wall and pushed back against it. The breath got stuck in his throat as pain radiated across his back.

“They won’t be here all the time”, Wick said with a smile before letting go and walking away, just like that.

Monty decided not to tell the others. Bellamy always looked so worried about him already, Wells would start looking at him just like that, and Miller… Miller would probably get angry. And maybe get in trouble. It wasn’t worth it.

He was a little worried, but it wasn’t like there had been a moment so far when none of the three were around.

 

*

 

The list came up a week later. Monty stood in front of it, frozen. This was it then.

Miller had looked especially cheery when he got back from work that night.

“What’s got you projecting emotions onto your face?” he asked.

“I finally qualify. I’m going on the camp”, Miller said, sounding happier than Monty had ever heard him.

“Wow. Congrats! How did you find out?”

“Bellamy told me. Though he also said there’s a list so Wells is there now. It’s downstairs.”

And that’s how he found himself standing in front of the bulletin board. Wells patted his shoulder.

“Maybe next time.”

“Kane told Bellamy that I could qualify if I kept working at laundry.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, oh.”

“You think he was –-”

“Yup.”

“Shit.”

“Yeah.”

They would leave on Monday. Monty still had almost a week with them around. He went to the gym with Miller as often as he could. The boy didn’t ask for the reason of his sudden fitness boom, and it was better that way. He wouldn’t have known what to say. And he didn’t want to ruin the ease they’d reached when together. He actually liked spending time with Miller.

It was kind of funny how he was expecting something to happen once the others left. Wick might as well be just fucking with him for all he knew. The boy had no actual reason to pick a fight with him. There was no real reason to be waiting for a doomsday, but still he did.

After everything, what were his chances of anything changing for the better? It was just a mystery what would actually happen to him. What could Wick do? If he got beaten up, everyone would see. And it wasn’t like he couldn’t tell someone about it. Who that someone would be was also still open for debate.

He’d just have to wait and see what happened.

 

*

 

It took two days.

Monty was waiting constantly for something to jump at him but when it didn’t, he started believing Wick’s words had just been a fear tactic. He had to stay at laundry for most of it, anyway, as his last sign up for the task was for a longer period of time. It got almost boring to live alone.

As his shift neared its end on the third day, things changed fast. A boy he didn’t know marched in and commanded everyone to leave. Monty could see the change in the others; they suddenly looked nervous, some even scared.

When he took a step forward, the boy looked straight at him. “Not you.”

With a sigh he stayed put. He appreciated the few kids who refused to move until the boy took half a step towards them. It was a nice gesture either way.

Maybe it was the fact that he’d known to expect this to happen that kept him so calm. If anything, he wasn’t going to give some bullies the satisfaction of seeing him scared. So he perfected the disinterested look on his face as Wick and the rest of his friends walked in.

“So do we talk before or after?” Monty asked casually.

Wick laughed. “And what would you have to talk about?”

“Well, I still have no idea why you’re so persistent about bothering me. That’d be a fun start, I think.”

“Sure, but it’s getting a little late”, Wick shrugged.

There were four of them. The first guy’s name was Dax, maybe. Finn was in the background, clearly not valuable enough to have a say.

“Well, if you have a schedule.”

 

*

 

He was on the floor when they were leaving. Nothing felt broken. He’d fallen from a tree Jasper had talked him into climbing when he was six and broke a rib. This didn’t feel as bad. Probably just bruising.

His lip was cut open, the metallic taste clear in his mouth. That one was worth it, though. He could’ve probably gotten out with less, but as always he couldn’t keep his mouth shut.

“Funny how any of you aren’t at the camp. Have you been to too many of those too, Wick? How old are you anyway?” he’d asked. “Because you don’t look a day over thirty. But I’m guessing somewhere around 27. Must be the stache. Not a strong look for you, bud. Lose it and you’re looking at a good 25.”

It got the ball rolling at least.

After a few minutes he got up carefully, testing out his limbs. His ribs took most of the hits so breathing hurt a bit but he could walk and that’s all he needed now.

Abby was behind her desk as always when he walked in. Her expression barely changed as she took in his appearance. “Have a seat.”

Monty sat opposite her gingerly.

“So do you need an ice pack or -–”

“Shouldn’t you, like, do something?” he interrupted her. “Like report this? Do a checkup? Look even a _little_ worried?”

The doctor leveled him with a look. “Why did they do this?”

“What?”

“Was there a reason for them to do this?”

Monty stared at her with his mouth hanging open. “Does knowing unlock some kind of an emotion?”

“Just answer the question, please.”

“How could I know? Four guys just beat the shit out of me, and you want me to analyze?”

Abby just waited.

“Oh my –- Well, since they seem to love it here, it could be because I’m gay. Sure wish it’s more complicated than that. So can you give me an ice pack?”

“Just a moment”, Abby clasped her hands together on the desk. “So do you think there was a reason this happened?”

“What the -– Can’t you just –-”

“Was there. A reason?”

Monty could feel tears prickling in his eyes but he refused to let them fall in front of her. “You want me to say I got beaten up because I’m gay?”

Abby didn’t say anything. She didn’t need to. It dawned upon him pretty quickly.

“Ah, so if I wasn’t gay, it wouldn’t have happened. Lesson learned?”

She smiled. “Let me get you that ice pack.”

 

*

 

It was the loneliest he’d felt in a long time. The day after he skipped his classes and everything else, but by the evening Monty had had enough of staring at the wall. He wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of shutting him out.

What helped him through the next day was knowing he would do everything in his power to find a way for revenge. It would come to him sooner or later.

Monty was tough. He could deal with almost anything. But having everyone stare at him got a little old. In his need for privacy, he started walking around campus, certain there was a place no one else went to.

There was one door on the side of a building that didn’t seem like it was used a lot. Monty was almost sure it was some sort of a storage space. Maybe he was slowly losing it, but he just really wanted that door opened. It was locked but he still tried, pushing at the door, but for nothing. For good measure he kicked it in frustration, when suddenly it cracked open. A girl pushed the door open properly and gave him an incredulous look.

“What the fuck are you doing?”

Monty stared at the girl in amazement. “What?”

“Are you trying to break the door? What’s the matter with you?”

“No, I –- Who are you?”

“I’m Raven. Who are you?”

“I’m Monty. I go to school here.”

“Clearly”, she glanced down at his uniform. “So what do you want?”

“Nothing. I didn’t know someone was in there… What are you doing there?”

Raven signaled him to follow as she turned to go back inside. Only then Monty noticed the crutch she was holding as she hobbled down the short flight of stairs that followed. He shut the door and went after her.

“What is this place?”

Raven looked at him like he was an idiot. “A garage?”

“Yeah, yeah. But… why?”

Raven hopped on the workbench and started strapping a brace to her left leg. “They have a lot of shit that needs fixing. I’m a mechanic.”

“How have I never seen you before?”

“I’ve only been here for a little over a week. And they told me not to be seen”, she rolled her eyes. “Not good for all the hormones apparently.”

Monty snorted and she gave him a crooked smile. He looked around the space. There were three jeeps there that Monty had only seen maybe twice on campus. A well-locked door was on the opposite wall.

“So what are you looking for?”

“Uh. To not be around everyone?”

“Mhm, figured. With the face and all”, Raven made a vague gesture in his direction. “How much trouble are you in?”

“I’m not sure”, Monty sat down on a free chair, minding his bruises as he leaned back. “But you should see the other guys.”

“Guys?”

“Four.”

“Ouch. What happened?”

In a moment of weakness, he told Raven the whole story, the works. At least she looked horrified in response.

“She said that? How are you –- You’re just continuing like nothing happened?”

“Oh I’ll get back at them. Just have to let them get comfortable so it’s a surprise.”

Raven frowned at him. “How are you so… calm? It’s scary.”

He shrugged. “Because crying doesn’t help anymore. I have to do better than that. Letting them see you’re affected by it gives them the upper hand. I’m not submitting to that.”

“I don’t know if that’s really bad or really smart.”

“Me neither.”

 

*

 

He started spending all of his extra time with Raven in the workshop. She actually had a laptop, which no student there was allowed, and he got to skype with Harper. He told her about Bellamy and Wells and Miller and Kane and Wick, and Harper swore she’d come see him as soon as he got home for Christmas break.

Raven was easy to be around. She liked to tell stories so he could just listen when he didn’t feel like talking. Sometimes he even helped her with her work, handing her tools as she fixed the jeeps.

“I used to run”, she told him once. “I was really fucking good, too. They said I’d go far. But I was in a car accident. Some dumbass crashed into my side and my leg was wrecked. Lost my scholarship after the accident too. So now I’m stuck working here.”

“How on earth did you find this job?”

“I got it through some work associate of my dad’s. He’s in the army.”

Behind the mystery door laid the arsenal, according to Raven.

“I’m not allowed to go in there”, she snorted. “I’d definitely blow shit up.”

The bruises were starting to fade very slowly from his skin. Monty figured it’d take weeks for them to completely disappear. It was easier to forget they were even there when he was down at the garage, away from the pitying stares.

Raven brought up his nonexistent plan for revenge a few times, but he had nothing going for it yet. He suspected she didn’t believe he was fine, and maybe she wasn’t wrong, but not being alone helped either way.

In every assembly and passing in the hallways, he stared Kane and the rest straight in the eye.

 

*

 

“Hey! Long time no see!”

Monty jumped slightly at the voice and turned to look at Wells, who had just walked into the room, still in his gear. “Hi! You’re back!”

Wells’ smile dropped fast when he got a good look at him. “What the hell –-”

Monty shushed him as he heard Miller’s voice from the hall. “It’s nothing. Please.”

Wells didn’t look happy about it, but he started unpacking instead of asking questions. Miller walked in soon after, and Monty had already turned away.

“Hey! You’re still around.”

“Yup”, he said without looking his way. “Where would I go, anyway?”

“I imagined you’d start digging a tunnel under the floor to get out of here when we’re not watching after you.”

He didn’t say anything. There was a moment of silence.

“Why are you being so weird?” Miller asked. Monty could hear him move closer to him. “Hey?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking -–”

Miller took a hold of his arm, a lot gentler than the previous time forever ago, and turned him around. The room was completely still for a few seconds. Miller’s hand came up to cup his chin, moving his head from side to side carefully.

“If you’re going to snap, let go of me”, Monty said.

Miller moved right away, hand dropping to his side.

“Monty… what the hell happened?” Wells asked, arms crossed over his chest.

“I took up boxing?”

“Don’t -– _Don’t_ make jokes. Please”, Miller said quietly.

“It’s not a big deal. I swear.”

Miller’s eyes widened comically. “Not a big deal?”

“Shut it, Miller. Monty, come on”, Wells gave him a stern look.

“You already know what happened. It’s not a big mystery who here gets people beaten up –-”

“Why weren’t they at the camp?”

Monty shrugged. “Well… Wick might’ve mentioned something about waiting for a time when you’re all gone… You were so excited to go so I figured why ruin it.”

Now both of them stared at him like he’d lost it.

Wells snapped out of it first. “You knew they were going to do this?”

“And you didn’t tell us?” Miller astonished.

“It wasn’t my fault they came after me.”

“Of course not but -–”

“No but! They’ve had that circle jerk going on for too long for anything else to work. I did what I had to do to get them off me. End of story.”

“That makes no sense!” Miller exclaimed.

“Don’t you dare act like you’re so great at dealing with things. You’ve known what they’re doing all along. Why is it happening to me different? And I’m going to get back at them, anyway.”

“Because -– What?”

Wells sighed heavily. “You’re going to fight against them systematically stepping all over you?”

“Yeah.”

“And how’s that?”

“I don’t know yet.”

“Oh my god”, Miller let out a breath, moving away from him.

Monty grabbed his wrist before he could get too far, holding on until the boy met his eyes. “I’m not asking you to understand. But it’s in the past now. There has to be a way to stop them. I’m going to figure it out.”

“Monty, what if you can’t? They have the support of… well, everyone relevant. They can get away with anything. You’ll just get yourself in more trouble”, Wells looked at him pleadingly.

“It’s okay, Wells. Trust me”, he said, releasing Miller’s hand.

“I’m going to kill him”, was all they heard before Miller marched out of the room.

Wells ran a hand over his face. “Fuck, go find Bellamy. I’ll stop him.”

They both rushed off.

 

*

 

Fortunately Miller couldn’t find Wick - or at least Monty assumed that’s who he was after - before Wells reached him. Monty found Bellamy who didn’t ask for an explanation.

When they got to the pair, Miller seemed to have calmed down and was talking quietly with Wells. He had the decency to look embarrassed when Bellamy told him off.

“I’m going to need to know what’s going on.”

“I need to go to work”, Monty said. They’d be fine on their own.

“You still have work?” Bellamy frowned.

“Well, I haven’t been there for a week so it’s better I finish off what I signed up for. So… see you later.”

He knew he was running away from them a little. It was easier with them around, but not having seen Miller in over a week had yet another weird reaction on him. The boy was awfully reckless and impulsive, and still Monty liked him a whole lot.

In all honesty, he couldn’t quite pinpoint the moment he’d actually started liking Miller. He’d been very attracted to him for a good while, sure. But actually having anything close to romantic feelings was new. Or maybe he just hadn’t noticed it before since the boy still pissed him off just as easily.

Still, he didn’t know Miller that well. So maybe he was idealizing him a bit. He’d done that a lot with Jasper when he was younger and figuring things out. He painted this whole picture of someone he’d like, and, well, it ended just as well as you can imagine.

But he’d been getting to know Miller. After their training sessions he used to persuade him into talking about himself a little. His dad was a cop, no mom around. He used to get in a lot of trouble before he was sent to the academy after his first year of high school. His first name was Nathan. He didn’t like talking about himself that much. Some subjects still made him shut down completely. And Monty had learned to steer away from them.

So maybe he liked Miller. Maybe liked him a lot.

It was fine. He’d liked his friends before.

 

*

 

“I have an idea”, he said first thing the next morning, leaning against the side of Wells’ bed after returning from the bathroom.

“What is it?” Wells asked through a yawn. Miller was still too out of it to form words.

“I need to go somewhere to make it happen.”

Wells rubbed his eyes while Miller finally managed to get his feet on the floor.

“Where?”

“I kind of made a new friend while you were gone.”

Miller turned to look at him in confusion while Wells just shook his head slowly.

“Of course you did.”

“I’m serious. Her name is Raven and she works as a mechanic here.”

“We don’t have a mechanic?”

“We do now. She hasn’t been here for that long. Just like Clarke, they’re trying to hide her as well as they can to ‘give your hormones a break’.”

“They’re literally hiding girls in the building now. Why am I not even surprised anymore”, Wells sighed, dragging himself up. “So where is she?”

“The storage building or whatever it is. Where the arsenal is. There’s like a door at the farthest wall”, Monty explained as he looked for a shirt. He could feel their eyes on him as he changed, most of the bruises still visible on his skin. Pressing his lips together, he quickly pulled down the hem of the shirt before turning to them.

“We’ll come with you.”

“Okay. So meet me there after classes, okay?”

He did actually have an idea. Whether it would work or not was questionable, but it was worth a shot.

 

*

 

As he was leaving his last class, Bellamy ran up to him.

“Hey, I hear we’re going on a mission.”

“You’re coming too?”

“Of course! I thought I’d seen everything in this place, but clearly not. Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

Monty just rolled his eyes and the boy followed him happily. Wells and Miller were already waiting by the door, looking the furthest from casual. He knocked on the door and waited patiently. Raven appeared soon, stopping in her tracks as she noticed she had an audience.

“You have got to be kidding me.”

“They just want to help.”

“Sure”, Raven eyed them suspiciously but returned inside.

“I like her already”, Bellamy grinned.

They walked in after her, closing the door behind them.

“I can’t believe I’ve never been here before”, Wells muttered.

“Clearly why they have me here”, Raven snorted. “So let me guess. Wells, Bellamy and Miller?”

“Yup, fresh from camp”, Monty nodded. “I need to borrow your laptop for something.”

“A laptop?”

“No way.”

“I don’t know if that’s cute or sad”, Raven said to Monty as she handed the machine over.

“It’s sad”, he chuckled.

“Hey now, you’re too new to be judging”, Bellamy noted.

“There’s always room for judging.”

“Cute”, Bellamy huffed, the smile on his face making even Monty’s knees a little weak.

“So what are you doing exactly?” Miller dragged a chair next to him.

“Since I don’t have any better ideas, I’m going to try to hack the school’s system.”

The impressed look he got made his cheeks warm up.

“You can do that?”

“The whole place seems pretty prehistoric so I’m hoping it’ll be a piece of cake”, he got to typing, the others falling silent. After a moment he looked up again. “This’ll take a minute. Stop staring at me.”

His idea wasn’t as successful as he’d hoped. With a sigh he switched off the laptop. “I’m going to need to get to an official computer.”

“What for?”

“I want to see some files. They’ve got to have records of everyone. I’m sure there’s dirt somewhere.”

“My dad has one. And Kane too”, Wells said.

“Wait, you’re Jaha’s kid?” Raven raised her brows.

“Yeah, so?”

“Nothing”, she held up her hands. “Just asking.”

“Either way, it’s not a very easy task. We’d have to break in after hours”, Monty ran a hand through his hair. “And not get caught by Lincoln. Or the cameras. Though those I can handle from here.”

“I can pick locks”, Miller said.

He turned to look at the boy. “Now who’s talking.”

“Barely on the same level.”

“Still cool.”

“Okay, when are we doing this?” Bellamy asked.

“As soon as possible. Let’s see…”

 

*

 

“Hey, do you have a sec?”

He met Miller’s eyes, unsure and uncomfortable. “Sure.”

To his surprise, Miller signaled him to follow him out of the room where he’d been doing homework. They walked all the way to the yard and where no one was near them until Miller finally opened his mouth.

“This is kind of weird. I mean, I don’t know. I’m not sure what you were planning on doing with the files and all, but I thought since it might be that you see something… Okay, I’ll just say it. There’s quite a lot of stuff on my file. And I wouldn’t want you to start seeing me differently because of that.”

In all honesty, his heart fluttered a little at that.

“I won’t look at it if that’s what you mean. I’m sure I know you enough.”

Miller made a face. “Uh, yeah. Just… if you do see it.”

“I promise I won’t think any less of you. I already used to think you’re an asshole. What could be worse?”

“A hypocrite…”

“What?”

Miller shook his head quickly. “Nothing. Just wanted to… make sure.”

“Don’t worry about it”, Monty reassured, bumping their elbows together. “I’m not that easy to get rid of.”

Miller just smiled as they headed back towards the dorms.

 

*

 

The plan was pretty simple. Monty had gotten into the surveillance system and a hold of the cameras. They figured a route to the offices where they wouldn’t be seen, and how the camera moved by the door. Bellamy knew the night guard, Lincoln’s, schedule so they had some sort of an image of how much time they had.

Wells had found the best date for them to go through with it. Both his dad and Kane were away for the night. He’d also tried to find any clue of passwords but with no luck.

“I think it’s better I stay out of this, though. I’ll stay in our room when you go. At least I can cover for you if something happens.”

Monty assured him it was fine. He got it too; getting caught would’ve probably been a lot less fun to explain to your dad rather than just a superior.

Raven was put in charge of watching the cameras when he and Miller went in. Bellamy was there to tell which cameras to follow for Lincoln. And out of his own will a little bit too. Raven had found a beeper somewhere from the garage and fixed it so they could communicate.

“So what exactly are you trying to find again?” Miller asked as they tiptoed out of the dorms.

“I’m pretty open to anything”, he shrugged, glancing at his watch. “Not desperate, just very, very willing for any kind of information.”

“So you have no idea what we’re looking for.”

“Not really.”

With the key Bellamy had snatched for them, they got into the main building. The beeper vibrated with Raven’s message: Lincoln had started his rounds in the school building. From there he’d go in the dorms and then moved to the main building.

The academy’s surveillance system wasn’t the strongest. They had more decoy cameras than anything else, the working ones only in places where there was property to hurt or something to steal. They made their way up the stairs to the second floor where the offices were, avoiding the few cameras near the cafeteria. Now, the offices did have plenty of valuable stuff in them like electronics and so on, so there was a camera right by the doors.

“Which one are we going in?” Miller asked once they were standing against the wall under the camera.

“Kane’s. If anyone has shit hidden, it’s him”, Monty nodded towards the door on the left.

Miller needed to pick the lock while the camera was turned to the other side of the corridor. Monty watched the lens move slowly.

“Okay, go.”

Miller kneeled by the door and started doing whatever it was that you did to open a lock, Monty had no idea. The camera started moving back again.

“Come back, come back.”

Miller jumped up and got back to the wall as the camera turned above them. They repeated it two more times, Miller huffing annoyedly at the machine, before the door clicked open and Monty dashed after him inside.

They breathed heavily for a moment, trying to steady their heartbeats enough to focus.

“This is some serious mission impossible shit”, Miller muttered.

“I know right”, Monty grinned.

He powered up the computer and sat down in front of it. Miller looked around while he started working on the password. He found locked file cabinets and got to opening them.

They worked in silence. A message from Raven told that Lincoln was moving to the dorms now. Monty managed to log in, cheering quietly at himself. Miller just glanced at the ceiling in response.

Monty plugged in the USB stick he’d had Raven get him, and started digging. Miller got the cabinet open, and Monty looked away from the screen just to see him lift a small see-through baggy with something in it.

“Our phones are here”, Miller said.

“Why would he have them? I doubt he can hack passcodes.”

“Probably just likes to hold them. Fits his god complex.”

Monty turned back to the student files. As he scrolled through the names, something caught his eyes.

“Wick’s a last name, right?”

“I don’t know. Why?”

“Because I see a… What the -- Come have a look!”

Miller came to look over his shoulder at the screen. “What am I looking at?”

“Two files. One with the name Kyle Wick and the other as Wick Kyle. Same picture, same information. Except this”, Monty highlighted a line. “Birth year. I told him he looked old but he’s _actually_ 26\. He’s just re-enrolled. They’re actually having him around just to… be here.”

“He gets away with anything… because he’s doing exactly what he’s supposed to do”, Miller stared at the screen in disbelief.

“Which is terrorizing the students. You said they’d do it themselves if they could… Clearly they can.”

“He’s got to have some kind of a log of all the punishments he’s handing out. The notepad is just for dramatics. There’s no way he wouldn’t write them down.”

“Give me a sec.”

They were harder to find, but this wasn’t his first time playing. Miller had gone back to the cabinets when Monty got the first reports open. He skimmed through them quickly and copied a few as he went. His own name was there plenty of times.

There was one subgroup that stood out for him. It was named “Passed”. As he looked through it, a familiar name caught his attention.

“Fuck, he’s coming. We have to go”, Miller was holding the beeper.

Monty hadn’t even heard the buzzing. Dazedly he copied the whole group, groaning as a popup appeared, telling him how long the process would take. “Just a second.”

“Monty, come on”, Miller hissed.

Raven was now beeping them every time the camera was in position for them to get out.

“I can’t get this to go faster!” Finally the window disappeared and he turned everything off. “Okay.”

They waited behind the door until the next beep before getting out and against the wall again. They got down the stairs, but because they’d come down at the side of the building, there was still getting to the doors.

“He’s already in the building. What are we going –-”

Miller shushed him and they listened for a moment. Footsteps were clearly approaching, and they both froze. They couldn’t go back upstairs anymore, Lincoln’s steps right behind the corner.

Suddenly Miller grabbed his arm and pushed him carefully to the wall, eyes never leaving his. His lips were soft against Monty’s, hands holding his face between them gently. He only got his arms around Miller’s waist, when Lincoln appeared.

The guard huffed in annoyance. “Get out of here. Don’t let me catch you again or I’m writing you up.”

“Sorry”, Miller grinned shakily, taking Monty’s hand and pulling him along.

“Hey!”

They stopped, identical looks of “oh fuck” on their faces.

“Yeah?” Miller turned back, letting go of his hand.

“The key. It better be back to wherever you took it from first thing tomorrow. And you’d better find a smarter way to impress your boyfriend next time.”

“Of course.”

They walked out as slowly as they could make themselves go before breaking into a run on the front steps. They didn’t stop until they were in the dorm, having to move quieter so no one would wake up.

Wells was still up and waiting for them. Monty went back downstairs to call Raven and tell them coast was clear, leaving Miller to tell him what they’d done. Not what they’d _done_ , but what they’d found.

Monty waited until Bellamy came. Not because he didn’t know what to say to Miller, no. He just wanted to see his friend got back safe.

When he did return to the room, Wells had gone to bed and Miller was lying in his with his eyes still open. He didn’t look at Monty when he climbed up to his bed above him.

 

*

 

Bellamy was caught up with something the next day, so they decided to go through what they’d found the day after. For once Monty was glad to go to class and do homework. Miller hadn’t said a single word to him. Not that he’d tried to bring it up, but still.

“Are you going to tell me what’s going on with you two again?” Wells asked as he was getting ready for work.

“Nope! I’ve got to go. Awful rush. Laundry awaits!”

He got the double disappointment move, a slow headshake and a glance at the ceiling, but it was better than having to explain. Miller could tell him if he felt like it.

Monty did his work, folding this time, without thinking. Thinking of the work, that is. He was definitely thinking about Miller. Who had kissed him. As an escape plan. Still counted, though.

It was nice. He liked kissing Miller. He would do it again, recommend it even. But it was very confusing to try to figure out what Miller was thinking. He hadn’t shown interest in Monty before so that was definitely a sign. Sure, he’d gotten nicer since he came back from the camp, but that was most likely just because he was worried about him.

Friends kissed sometimes. Admittedly, it usually happened whilst drunk or something. Monty hadn’t been drunk recently enough. He should get out and go get smashed.

Because of his earlier ditching, he was in charge of locking up. As the last of the boys left, someone else walked in.

“Hi”, Miller said quietly.

“What are you doing here?”

“I want to, um, apologize. Again.”

Monty set down his final towel and walked around the table. “Okay?”

“I’m sorry for kissing you. I wasn’t thinking.”

“Well, it got us out. And I wasn’t… exactly against it.”

Miller pressed his lips together, eyes on the floor.

“I, uh, saw something in the files. Your name was there in this group labeled "Passed”. What does that mean?“

Miller leaned against one of the dryers, still not looking at him. "I don’t know. I mean I do, but it’s their thing and not ours”, he cleared his throat. “I didn’t want you to think of me as a hypocrite when I told you to not mess with them. But when I started here, I did the same thing.”

“You fought with Wick?”

“Well… That too. They started hazing me, but in the end I, um -– I caved in. I stopped saying it out loud. That I’m, uh, gay. So they left me alone. Because I finally passed the test.”

“Oh.”

“I had a crush on Bellamy when I got here. So I told Wells about it. And finally Bellamy, too. It didn’t last that long, and then everything went down. So after that I was just quiet.”

“Oh.”

“I guess I didn’t really qualify for the camp either”, Miller smiled sadly. “They just wanted me out of the way. That’s what I’ve been doing mostly… Being out of the way.”

“If I’d known, I -–“

“It’s fine”, Miller shook his head. “But I am sorry for kissing you. I didn’t mean to take advantage of you even though I like you.”

Monty stared at him for a long moment before Miller finally looked up.

“You like me?”

“Yeah.”

“I kind of like you too. A little bit”, Monty said, pulse beating in his ears.

Miller smiled, first a little and then wider. Monty couldn’t help returning it, walking up to him. His fingers trailed down Miller’s arm to take a hold of his hand.

“This is when you kiss me again.”

Miller rolled his eyes but leaned forward, pressing their lips together. Monty let go of his hand so he could pull him closer with his arms around his neck. Miller’s hands moved over his back before grasping at the back of his shirt as the kiss grew less patient. He made a needy noise against his lips just before Miller pulled away.

Miller didn’t open his eyes until a good minute later.

“Too much?” Monty grinned, still out of breath.

“Just being considerate. And the door’s still open.”

 

*

 

Walking out of the laundry room was strange. Monty felt like his cheeks were still burning up, like what they’d done was clear on his face.

“You missed one”, Miller said nonchalantly, but he looked especially smug.

He elbowed the boy in the ribs before fixing the buttons of his shirt. They didn’t talk for the rest of the walk back, just sneaking glances at each other.

“I don’t want to know”, Wells said as soon as they walked in –-

“Monty, are you listening?”

He blinked slowly, shaking out of his thoughts as the others stared at him. “Sorry, now I am.”

Raven rolled her eyes. “We didn’t see you at all in the cameras so that’s good. So everything went as planned?”

“Um”, Monty kept a straight face. “Yeah, pretty much.”

“We went in Kane’s office. Did you know he’s holding our phones there?” Miller said quickly.

“I thought Jaha had them?”

“Me too”, Wells frowned.

“No, there they were.”

“Okay, but what about the computer?”

Monty got out the USB stick and connected it. He moved back as Raven, Bellamy and Wells leaned closer to read from the screen.

“Do you want me to take you off the list?” he’d asked Miller after the boy moved from between his thighs to the laundry room floor next to him.

“No”, Miller said finally, turning his head to the side to look at him. “It’s part of the evidence. And Wells and Bellamy more or less know already.”

“If you’re sure.”

“I am.”

Now, Monty reached over to nudge Miller’s ankle with his foot. The boy gave him a shaky smile in return.

Raven leaned back first, mouth stuck open, and looked at Miller. “What did they do?”

“It kind of came out of nowhere. I hadn’t spoken to any of them before the time they told me I should start learning faster or something. I had no idea what they were talking about. But the next time they pretty much just said they’d come for me if I didn’t stop. Apparently I was supposed to get the message somehow? Because it wasn’t until the second time they attacked me that they used some slurs at me so I finally realized what they were after. They wanted me to stop being gay. I have no idea how they even heard about it.”

“You never told me”, Wells said. “You said you got into a fight.”

“Well… that’s what I thought the first time”, Miller shrugged uncomfortably, glancing at Monty for help.

“I didn’t know what they were after either. Wick tried to talk to me once but he left when Miller told him to. The next time he was already telling me to beware and shit. Miller had told me he had something to do with the beatings so I guessed then.”

“So how are they finding this all out?” Raven asked.

“I… might know.”

They all turned to look at Bellamy who had gone pale.

Wells sucked in a sharp breath. “No. You didn’t.”

Bellamy just looked at him miserably.

“What? What did you do?” Monty frowned.

“You have to understand that I had no choice…”

“Bellamy. What did you do?”

“I made a deal. A few years ago. They wanted someone to update them on how everyone was doing. So I told them because I thought it was just… them caring. But then they started asking some pretty personal questions and I wasn’t sure if it was their business anymore, but I didn’t have a choice. And if I had nothing to tell they…”

“They what?”

Bellamy swallowed roughly. “Told me to guess.”

Chair legs screeched against the floor as Miller stood up.

“So you just looked away?”

Wells was up now too, holding his arm in front of Miller’s chest. “We all looked away.” Miller was about to object but Wells wasn’t done yet. “But I was asked to look around too and I said no.”

They all stared at Bellamy who took his time before answering.

“I did it for my sister –-”

“How does Octavia have anything to do with this?” Miller snapped.

“Before you started here, my stepdad sent her here –-”

“How does that even work? She’s a girl.”

“She is. But my stepdad refused to believe it. He thought she’d "get fixed back to being a boy” here. And I couldn’t let that happen. She’d just managed to grow her hair to the length she wanted it in. They would’ve taken all that away from her.“

They all fell silent. Bellamy didn’t look up from the floor.

"So what did you do?” Raven asked quietly.

“I made a deal. They’d send her home because this is an all boys school. I’d tell them what they wanted to hear. I didn’t think it would ever lead to _this_.”

Miller sat back down with a sigh. “Fuck.”

“You could’ve told us”, Wells said, following suit.

Bellamy shook his head. “I didn’t want to risk it. I’m sorry.”

Unsure of what to do, they just sat there together in silence.

 

***

 

“MAJOR SCANDAL AT MILITARY ACADEMY”, said the headline.

Monty turned to the right page and started reading.

_“Ohio, June 30th, 2015_

_Marlin Academy, a military school for boys aged 12-18, has been under serious accusations since last December, after the police received multiple anonymous tips on the abuse going on behind the scenes…”_

They’d gathered as many people as they could. With the files and Bellamy’s knowledge they reached out to the kids who had been caught in the cycle of Kane’s terror. Not all of them admitted it or wanted to speak of it, but by the end they had almost fifty names, stories, testimonies.

Miller and Raven used their connections to figure out who the finished result should be sent to.

_“Chief Maya Vie was brought in to lead the investigation with her team to prevent the academy and the Ohio police force’s connections from intervening with the process…”_

Multiple sources received the neatly packaged leads. They’d decided against going to the press too in case it would lessen their credibility with the cops.

_“Vie stated earlier this year in a press conference, that the allegations were taken very seriously considering the earlier accusations made against the academy, that had risen to the surface alongside the new story…”_

The bait was caught, and all they could do was wait.

Raven kept busy with work. Bellamy was coming to terms with his guilt. Wells focused on preparing for graduation instead of the uncertainty over his father’s part in all this.

Miller smiled a little more often. Monty lied awake next to him on the tiny bed on some nights, wondering what would happen to them.

_“Sergeant Marcus Kane, the vice principal of the academy, was taken into custody on December 3rd. Just a day later, a student of the academy with the name of Kyle Wick was brought in for questioning. Wick, 26, had been enrolled into Marlin in 2011 by Sergeant Kane, five years after his original graduation…”_

December was when things got interesting. It started with a phone call from one prestigious all girls private school.

Clarke had run away, left the school at first light on the morning of December 1st. According to witnesses, she’d gotten into a beat up van with a female driver after climbing the school’s fence. No one had heard of her since.

Abby didn’t file a report on it. Whether it was giving up or giving in, Monty felt no compassion for her.

_“In the anonymous tip that started it all, the sender, who is still unknown, had provided several testimonies from students of the academy, that have later been confirmed. In the following citations, the names have been changed to protect the identities of the students…”_

When Kane was taken away by the police, a state of stillness took over the school. No one knew how to react. The students were told to continue as usual. But there was nothing usual about what was going on.

_“Colonel Jaha, the principal of Marlin, was freed of charges with a warning. Sergeant Kane still awaits trial…”_

They went home for Christmas. The night before leaving, Miller held onto his hand much longer than he usually stayed awake.

Monty’s parents didn’t even ask. Harper asked more than enough. Jasper didn’t know what to say, still.

When they returned to the academy, Kane was still gone. It felt final.

_“Chief Vie spoke together with Colonel Jaha of the future of Marlin Academy on June 29th. They made clear the school was not about to close its doors, but instead would rise above and become a safer, better-equipped place of learning for all boys…”_

Chief Maya Vie invited Monty into the conference room of the main building in early March.

“I hear you have quite the record, mister Green”, she said conversationally.

“I dabble.”

“So you have no idea who obtained files from one of the academy’s employee’s computer and shed light on the covered abuse of lgbt students of this academy?”

“Could’ve been anyone.”

“Of course”, she smiled understandingly.

Monty returned the smile politely. He trusted her judgment.

_“Neither Kane or Wick have commented on the charges they’re facing. The academy has cut all ties with the two, refusing to speak for them…”_

Graduation came around.

Wells at the top of their class, was looking to starting at Brown the next fall. They all knew he’d be the successful one. Raven quit her job, ready to leave the empty garage walls behind and do something bigger, better. Bellamy, although a year older than the rest of them, walked to the stage to get his diploma alongside them, waving at his sister in the audience.

Miller didn’t know what he wanted to do yet, but he didn’t care too much either. Monty did enough worrying for him. The world was suddenly a little too open for them.

_“The story has awakened a lot of discussion on the subject of conversion therapy and the safety of lgbt youth everywhere. "Our goal is to ensure the overall security of every single child in this country”, stated Vie.“_

"You’re still reading that?” Miller wrapped his arms around his waist from behind, resting his chin on his shoulder.

“I was just reminiscing”, Monty turned to press a kiss to his cheek.

He let Miller take the newspaper from his grip and throw it on the dining table. Turning around in Miller’s arms, he found himself pinned against the side of the counter that he’d been leaning against while drinking his coffee.

“Is Wells still asleep?” Monty asked breathily as Miller’s lips found his neck.

“He’ll be out for a while.”

“Not surprised. I can only imagine how much drunken energy it takes to tell the story of how the talk he had with you at a camp during senior year was the reason you and I are together. It’s still his favorite. Did you know you thought I was cute the day we met?”

Miller pulled back with a pout. “And not a day longer.”

Monty grinned, pressing his lips to the corner of his mouth.

“Have you heard anything from Bellamy and Raven yet?”

“They texted when they were getting ready to leave for the airport. Still don’t understand how people can leave for their honeymoon the morning after their wedding.”

Miller just nuzzled his cheek as he spoke.

“But I’m assuming Clarke will call when they’ve arrived in Sydney. Hopefully Lexa’s car will work now unlike the time we visited. Remember that time on the beach when –-”

“Still sleeping over here”, Wells’ words, muffled by a pillow, came from the living room. “Also ew.”

Monty stopped himself from giggling out loud and let Miller pull him towards their room to have a few more lazy moments in bed before the day had to properly start, the newspaper forgotten on the table.

**Author's Note:**

> i'm now officially out of school for the year so prompts are open @ natharmiller on tumblr  
> i still have a few in my inbox sorry for the senders my mind's been blank for them but i'll get to them asap. 
> 
> hope you're all having a good week


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